Identifying High-Risk Patients: Clinical and Demographic Characteristics Associated With Readmission in Adolescents...

Adolescents with eating disorders (EDs) are increasingly hospitalized in the United States and are at high risk for readmission for at least 1 year thereafter. We examined clinical and demographic factors associated with readmission in adolescents hospitalized for EDs between 2010 and 2024.

This study built upon a prior study evaluating trends in patient hospitalization for EDs. We used the PEDSnet database to pull data from eight children's hospitals on patients aged 12-21 years hospitalized for an ED and analyzed the group readmitted for the ED within 1 year of initial hospitalization. We analyzed which factors were associated with readmission, focusing on patient demographics and clinical characteristics.

We assessed a cohort of 9,829 patients hospitalized between 2010 and 2024, of whom 7,505 were admitted once and 2,324 (23.6%) were readmitted within a year. Risk factors for readmission within a year included patients who were identified as female, had moderate or severe malnutrition, had anorexia nervosa, hypokalemia, bradycardia, and orthostatic hypotension (all p < .001). Patients with comorbidities of anxiety or depression (both with p < .05) and those with public insurance were also more likely to be readmitted (p < .001).

Adolescents hospitalized for EDs are at high risk for readmission within 1 year. Certain clinical and demographic characteristics are associated with increased risk for 1-year readmission in patients with EDs. Future studies should evaluate the publicly insured cohort further to elucidate if additional factors are associated with these patients' increased risk.